Show By Rock!!(Japanese: ショウ・バイ・ロック!!,Hepburn: Shō Bai Rokku!!?) (also known as Show By Rock!! Gonna be a Music Millionaire!) is a rhythmvideo game developed and published by Geechs, in conjunction with Sanrio. It is Sanrio's first ever character project aimed for older males and young adults, as opposed to the main female and child demographic. The game was released on July 30, 2013 for iOS and on June 27, 2014 for Android devices. An anime adaptation by Bones aired in Japan between April and June 2015 on Tokyo MX as the first late night anime based on a Sanrio character or franchise.[1] A second season and a short anime have been announced.[2]

Contents

Gameplay

The game plays as a rhythm game with few elements from raising sim games. Players can choose 20 different bands, each having their own music style and uses special cards for each gameplay. The player can play more than 40 official tunes from the start of the game, and can only use up to six cards per level. As it clears each stage, the player level up and doing so gains access to more songs and content. Special songs can also be played during boss battles as well.

Plot

Cyan Hijirikawa is a first-year high school student who has a good passion for music. However, she is very shy and doesn't have the courage to join the school's music club. But on one fateful night, she gets sucked into the rhythm game she had been playing on her smartphone after receiving an item called "Strawberry Heart". Cyan ends up in a new world called Midi City, a place where those who command music control everything. There, she sees a concert performed by a chibified kemono band called Trichronika and realizes she had taken on the form of a white cat girl dressed in a costume resembling Gothic Lolita fashion. However, when a "dark monster" starts to attack the concert and begins to corrupt the Melodisian stones of the Trichronika members, Strawberry Heart materializes in Cyan's hands and tells her to play something with it to defeat the monster. As she saves the band from turning into dark monsters themselves, she returns to her human form. She is then approached by Maple Arisugawa, the CEO of Banded Rocking Records to join his recording agency. She meets ChuChu, Retoree, and Moa, the vocalist, bassist, and drummer of Plasmagica, one of Banded Rocking Record's bands. Retoree asks Cyan to join, and she accepts. Together, they all tackle and perform together in the music scene, aiming to be the best music band of all Midi City, discovering the secrets surrounding the Legendary Instruments and importantly for Cyan, to find a way to get back to her own world.

Characters

The characters in Show by Rock!! are organized by music groups.

Banded Rocking Records

The starter band in the video game's story mode, composed of four members gathered by Maple Arisugawa of Banded Rocking Records. Cyan hopes on her band to be the best aim to the top of the Music Industry.[3] They are also the featured group in the Show by Rock!! anime.[4]

Cyan Hijirikawa (聖川 詩杏,Hijirikawa Shian?) / Cyan (シアン,Shian?) (Voiced by: Eri Inagawa (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English)) – guitar and vocals – The series's main protagonist, Cyan is a first-year high school student who is good at music, but is very shy with joining any music club at her school. When she got sucked into the game, she became a white cat girl[3] who wears a Gothic Lolita outfit with striped stockings. She once dreamed on becoming the best music star in the world until she stumbles upon a mysterious guitar called Strawberry Heart. Not knowing it is a legendary instrument, she is scouted by Maple and decided to be part of the band. In human form, she has black hair and both cat ears and a long cat tail.

Chuchu (チュチュ,Chuchu?) (Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)) – guitar and vocals – a pink rabbit girl who dresses in black clothing. An honor student of a school she attended, she is rather strictly mannered but sociable. However she can be prideful in certain situations and once formed the band in order to boost her popularity for her to start her solo career. But she decided not to leave due how important she is to them. She wields the Antique Batman Guitar, which is her prized instrument. In human form, she has purple hair and white rabbit ears and tail.

Retoree (レトリー,Retorī?) (Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (game), Manami Numakura (anime) (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)) – bass and vocals – a Golden Retriever dog girl who has long blonde ears and a ribbon in her hair. She is the smart girl in the group and uses her smartphone anytime, making her shy and unsociable. She uses the Blue Station Electric Bass as her main instrument. In her human form, she has long blonde hair tied in twintails and a yellow tail. She appears to have a crush on Cyan.

Moa (モア,Moa?) (Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)) – drums and vocals – a pink and black sheep girl with yellow horns, described as an alien who came from outer space. She came to Earth to investigate until she is scouted to join the band. She always ends her speeches with "Pyuru~" (ぴゅる〜,Pyuru〜?) and plays with the band using the Super Cosmo drums. In her human form, she has pink curly hair, yellow horns, black ears and a short black tail.

The second main band of the game, classified as a Visual Kei band. Like Plasmagica, they are also contracted to Banded Rocking Records and also aims on becoming the best of all Midi City.[5] All the songs are performed by Kishō Taniyama of Granrodeo.

Crow (クロウ,Kurō?) (Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama (Japanese), Mike McFarland (English)) – guitar and vocals - The leader of Shingan Crimsonz, he is a Hedgehog Mummon who aims to be the best rocker in MIDI City. Shown to be as impulsive and vulgar, he usually boast his skills in music and tends to disagree with Aion and Yaiba. Being from a family of Dairy Farmers, he sometimes think his fans are cattle to him which is considered an insult to them. However, he is very skilled in music and wields the ax-shaped Red Tomahawk Guitar.

Yaiba (ヤイバ,Yaiba?) (Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Ichiki (game), Tetsuya Kakihara (anime) (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)) – bass - A Fox Mummon who knows the way of the samurai, Yaiba is a guy who has huge respect to the way of the Bushido and the Rock Spirit. He is very timid and somehow gets into fights with both Crow and Aion. He wields the "Ryūkenden (龍剣伝?)" guitar.

Rom (ロム,Romu?) (Voiced by: Teruyuki Tanzawa (game), Yoshimasa Hosoya (anime) (Japanese), Chris Sabat (English)) – drums - A Leopard Mummon and the de facto leader the group. Despite having a hot personality and looking tough, he is level headed and usually scolds the other 3 when they're arguing. He plays the Skull Jacker Drums and is the only member of the group who has a full time job. He is once friends with Shu Zo until they broke up.

A former agent of Unicorn Virtual Music and currently the President and CEO of Banded Rocking Records, he's an egg Mummon who manages both Plasmagica and Shingan Crimsonz. Both serious and goofy, he tends to have a bondage and pain fetish; sometimes enjoys to be punished by his secretary. Thought to be goofy due to his antics, he is very caring towards the bands he formed and treats them as his family while knowing that music can't be weighed by money. Maple also knows about the existence of Strawberry Heart and its relations to the Grateful King.

The Grateful King is a famous composer and singer, whose skills in composition and music was legendary to everyone in the Sound World. However, since he is contracted with Unicorn Virtual Music, Dagger is using him on his plans on making him compose the most powerful song that would make him ruler of the Sound World. Due to his evil ambitions, he decided to possess the Legendary Instrument, Strawberry Heart, to rescue Cyan after being brought to the Sound World while using it as a way to communicate with her and the others. Now serving as Cyan's instructor in Midi City, it gives her advice on how to defeat dark monsters. It's sometimes called "Mr. Berry" by Cyan, apparently due to its long name. At the later course of the series, the members of BRR now knows about his existence.

Judas

Trichronika is an all-male idol group and the first band Cyan met in the anime. It is composed of three members, signed to the Major idol label Judas.

Shu Zo (シュウ☆ゾー,Shū Zō?) (Voiced by: Kasuya Daisuke (game), Mamoru Miyano (anime) (Japanese), Vic Mignogna (English)) – guitar and vocals - A Myumon of unconfirmed species and the leader of Trichronika, he is considered the galactic prince with the sweet angelic voice. He is very popular with fans in Midi City, especially for his music skills. He is able to sing, play guitar, and play piano to perfection. However, he shares a dark past with one of the members of ShinganCrimonz, Rom, whom he was in a Visual Kei band with before being scouted by Judas.

Riku (リク,Riku?) (Voiced by: Ayumu Murase (Japanese), Micah Solusod (English)) – bass - A Myumon of unconfirmed species and one of the twins supporting Shu Zo. Despite his dedication to performing with Trichronika, his soft-spoken nature and lack of confidence have given him a slight inferiority complex.

Kai (カイ,Kai?) (Voiced by: Ryota Osaka (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)) – drums - A Myumon of unconfirmed species and Riku's older twin brother. His two favorite things are Shu Zo and dancing. He is a caring big brother to Riku, if a bit eccentric.

Unicorn Virtual Music Inc.

A new group debuting in the game and anime, they are a 4-piece band composed of students from the St. Midi Middle School's Student Council.[8] In the anime, the group is working for Unicorn Virtual Music and is eyeing Cyan after she arrived in the sound world. By their defeat through a rematch against Plasmagica, Dagger corrupted their Melodisian Stones and turned them all into dark monsters.

Other groups

Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan is the game's Enka band, which plays a fusion of both rock and traditional Japanese music. They came to Midi City to spread Far East music. The songs in the game were all performed by Salia of the band Unicorn Table until "Sadame" which is performed by Saori Hayami.

A band hailing from the countryside of the Sound World. In the anime, all of the members had a brief cameo, portrayed as high school students in the countryside who had high respects to Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan and wished to go to Midi City to cheer them in person. All the songs in the game are performed by Luna, an artist signed to Nippon Columbia.

Media

Video game

The game was first unveiled by Sanrio on the game's official website and was first released on July 30, 2013 for iOS and later on Android platforms on June 27, 2014. Sanrio's Chief Director of License Business Akito Sasaki said at a licensing expo that the reason for the game's artistic distance from Sanrio's usual style is because it is geared toward young boys. Several promotional videos were also released for the game, and were uploaded to Sanrio's official YouTube account.[10]

Anime

A 12-episode anime adaptation of the game[11][12] animated by Bones aired on Tokyo MX between April 5 and June 21, 2015. The series is directed by Takahiro Ikezoe and written by Tōko Machida, with music composed by Yasuharu Takanashi, Funta7 and Rega Sound. The opening theme is "Seishun wa Non-Stop!" (青春はNon-Stop!?, lit. "Youth is Non-Stop!") and the ending theme is "Have a Nice Music!!", both performed by Plasmagica (Eri Inagawa, Sumire Uesaka, Manami Numakura, and Ayane Sakura).[13] Shimomura of Sanrio commented that "Sanrio is targeting males who like anime and games, a demographic we haven't targeted up until now, in order to develop cross-media marketing through games, anime, and SNS." Eri Inagawa, Cyan's voice actress, commented that "This has been a long-awaited anime adaptation. I'm so happy I could cry."[14][15][16] The series is licensed in North America by Funimation, who silmulcast the series as it aired and began streaming a dubbed version from June 7, 2015.[17][18]

Episode list

No.

Title

Original air date

1

"Have a nice MUSIC!!"

April 5, 2015

Cyan Hijirikawa is a shy high school girl who loves music and wants to become part of band but is too shy to ask to join one. One night, she is suddenly sucked inside a rhythm game on her phone into a musical world known as Tokyo Midi City, being intercepted a talking pink guitar midflight. When she regains her senses, Cyan finds herself in a cat-like form, witnessing a performance by the band Trichronika. Just then, a mysterious monster appears, attempting to drain the power from the Melodisian Stones in Trichronika's hearts in order to turn them dark. Spurred on by her guitar, named Strawberry Heart, Cyan manages to defeat the monster with a guitar jam. Shortly afterwards, as Cyan now finds herself in a catgirl form, she is scouted by Maple Arisugawa, the CEO of the Branded Rocking Records record label, to become a member of his band Plasmagica, and is introduced to fellow members Chuchu, Retoree, and Moa.

Cyan, after accepting the contract with BRR, she meets the other band, Shingan Crimsonz. Maple is contacted by a representative of Trichronika and is asked to have Shingan Crimonz doing the opening act because the band that they originally had came down with food poisoning. The band was initially against the idea but were quickly convinced by Angelica's scary face. The concert went without a hitch. Cyan is invited to stay at the BRR dormitories when they found out that Cyan had nowhere to stay at. Cyan takes a bath and sings which made her guitar blush. Her other band mates heard her singing and love it. When Cyan is alone again, she learns from Strawberry Heart that she cannot return home until she saves the world that she is in. Cyan agrees on the condition that she will be able to return before Golden Week starts.

3

"Yes! Idol ♡ Declaration""Iesu! Aidoru ♡ Sengen"(Yes!アイドル♡宣言)

April 19, 2015

Plasmagica is offered a chance to participate in a Battle of the Bands against Unicorn Virtual Music Inc.'s Cristicrista, with Chuchu becoming curious as to why Cyan isn't familiar with them. As everyone focuses on how best to win the battle, Retoree recalls how she joined the band in the hopes of making some friends. Plasmagica become nervous after hearing Criticrista's rehearsal, convinced they can't win. However, Cyan uses her music to ease everyone's nerves, proposing a new arrangement for their song. Despite still losing to Criticrista, the girls are satisfied with their first concert and end up feeling closer than before.

Retoree invites the girls to a performance by the popular enka band Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan, with the crowd becoming impressed by their unique culture and originality. Following the performance, after meeting the band members themselves, the girls feel they need to change their style in order to become more popular. However, Shingan Crimsonz's Rom reminds Plasmagica that the music is what's most important, so they instead decide to write a new song, their first since Cyan joined. Meanwhile, Moa, who is secretly an alien sent to investigate other worlds, grows concerned about her secret.

5

"Maze of DESTINY""Meikyū DESTINY"(迷宮DESTINY)

May 3, 2015

After Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan come into contact with another Dark Monster, barely making it out unscathed, Plasmagica get a gig at an upcoming Indies Band concert. Later that night, Chuchu eavesdrop on Cyan as Strawberry Heart reminds her of her mission to fight against the Dark Monsters. On the day of the concert, as another Dark Monster appears elsewhere, Strawberry Heart forces Cyan to leave her concert in order to search for it, despite Chuchu's attempt to stop her. Upon returning back after missing the monster, Cyan reveals to the other members that she came from another world, leading Retoree to become upset by the thought that she'll have to go home someday.

Strawberry Heart and Maple fill in the other members about how the creator of the dark monsters, Unicorn Virtual Music Inc.'s CEO Dagger Morse, had originally pulled Cyan into the Sound World for his own plans, but she was intercepted by Strawberry Heart. Wanting his bands to grow stronger for the upcoming Grateful Rock Festival, Maple arranges a training camp, sending Plasmagica to the beach and Shingan Crimsonz to the mountains. During the trip, Cyan tries to convey her feelings to Retoree, but she still can't bring herself to forgive her. Later however, Cyan manages to sing a song that properly gets her feelings across to both Chuchu and Retoree. Afterwards, Moa reveals her identity as an alien, with her bandmates no longer caring about such trivial matters and instead focusing on treasuring their time together, deciding to use Cyan's song for their next performance.

7

"Yokai Street""Yōkai Sutorīto"(妖怪ストリート)

May 17, 2015

While Dagger's henchman spreads rumors about amazing performances being held in Yokai Street, with the intention of luring out bands, Marimari, a youkai from the band Shinimonogurui, asks Plasmagica for their help in finding her bandmate, Tsugihagi, who went missing amidst monster attacks there. As Shingan Crimsonz go to Yokai Street to perform themselves, they are attacked by a Dark Monster, who drags them into another world and prevents Cyan from following in after them. Despite the odds being against them, Shingan Crimsonz manage to hold their own and defeat the monster, who turns back into Tsugihagi and is reunited with Marimari. Everyone soon makes their way home, unaware that a mysterious dark blob has attached itself to Shingan Crimsonz' Aion.

Plasmagica learn that they can't enter the Grateful Rock Festival as they haven't had a proper live concert yet, so Maple suggests they participate in another battle of the bands against Criticrista. Meanwhile, Aion suddenly decides to quit Shingan Crimsonz to the shock of the other bandmates, leading Cyan to suspect he may be under the influence of a Dark Monster. As Plasmagica and the other Shingan Crimsonz members search for Aion, Trichronika's Shu-Zo informs Rom and Yaiba about Aion's whereabouts, hinting towards some history between him and Rom. Finding Aion at the top of a skyscraper, Crow joins the others in order to apologise to him, restoring the order in his Melodisian Stone. With the crisis averted, Plasmagica turn their attention towards their battle against Criticrista.

9

"Falling Star Dreamline""Ryūsei Dorīmurain"(流星ドリームライン)

May 31, 2015

As Criticrista prepare for the battle of the bands, Dagger converses with his songwriter. Meanwhile, Chuchu suggests that the girls learn how to improve their performance to enhance their appeal to the fans. When Rom passes this off as superficial, Retoree shows Chuchu a photo of their training camp, showing her the most important thing is to have fun. On the day of the battle, Cyan grows concerned by the attention she gets from Criticrista's lead, Rosia, which also stirs up some dark feelings in Chuchu, but Plasmagica manage to bring out their smiles in their performance and win the battle. However, Dagger punishes Criticrista for their loss by darkening their Melodisian Stones.

10

"Reverse Rhapsody""Urahara na Rhapsody"(ウラハラなRhapsody)

June 7, 2015

Chuchu starts to become overcome with feelings of jealousy towards Cyan's growing popularity, which catches the attention of Dagger. Meanwhile, Berry warns the girls about Dagger's intentions for the Grateful Rock Festival, in which he hopes to obtain Cyan, Shu-zo, and Tsurezurenaru's Darudayu for his own band, suggesting that Plasmagica can defeat Dagger with their music. Later, Chuchu is called out by Dagger, who preys on her selfish desires and sways her over to his side in the hopes of making Cyan despair. Just as Chuchu announces her plans to quit Plasmagica, Strawberry Heart, who is revealed to be possessed by songwriter Grateful King, urges the bandmates to stop her, prompting Cyan and the others to use the song she wrote to help her regain her senses. Chuchu then apologises for her selfish motives, deciding she has no intention of quitting Plasmagica.

11

"Grateful Rock Festival""Gureitofuru Rokku Fesu"(グレイトフル・ロック・フェス)

June 14, 2015

As everyone assembles at Boodookan for the Grateful Rock Festival, Cyan grows concerned that she hasn't heard from Strawberry Heart since rescuing Chuchu, while Dagger prepares to use a song written by Grateful King to take over Midi City. Midway through the festival, Plasmagica, Shingancrimsonz, Tsurezurenaru, and Trichronika are attacked by a Dark Monster, capturing everyone except for Cyan, Shu-zo, and Darudayu. As Darudayu fights against the monster, Cyan discovers that the Dark Monster is actually Criticrista's Rosia.

12

"Our Youth is Non-Stop!""Seishun wa Non-Sutoppu!"(青春はNon-Stop!)

June 21, 2015

Thanks to the efforts of Darudayu and Shu-zo, Cyan manages to use her music to purify the Dark Monster, freeing Rosia and the other Criticrista members. Just then, Dagger makes his appearance, using his power to take everyone captive in order to sway Cyan into joining him. Before Dagger can contaminate Cyan's Melodisian Stone, he is stopped by Grateful King, who managed to escape thanks to the efforts of Maple and his assistant Angelica. As Dagger prepares to use his full power against Cyan, Grateful King blocks Dagger's attack and sends Cyan back towards her own world. Not wanting her friends to fight Dagger alone, Cyan unleashes her own potential and uses her power to defeat Dagger, returning him to his original form. With the battle over, Plasmagica give one final performance before Cyan returns to her own world, where she works up the courage to join her school's music club.

Reception

Nick Creamer of Anime News Network gave the first episode a positive rating, stating that the "debut was a wild merry-go-round of delirious nonsense, but most of it was the enjoyable kind of nonsense" and "this was a wild and largely entertaining debut, but it also leaves me with plenty of reservations. Shows that rely on novelty to stay interesting often fizzle out quickly, and Show By Rock!!'s premise doesn't necessarily seem unique or engaging enough to have much staying power once the sparkles fade."[19] However, Amy McNulty gave the first two episodes a B+, saying that "Show By Rock!! is hard to pin down. It's like a pinch of Di Gi Charat, a dash of The Idolmaster and a quart of Sanrio-style magical girls mixed together and thrown into a frenetic cyberpunk setting. It attempts to do too much at once, yet it manages to juggle plot points fairly well so far."[20]

The popularity of the anime is also shown at the 30th Sanrio Character Ranking with Plasmagica ranking at sixth place and Shingan Crimsonz at second place.[21]